Diana is, of course, already a queer icon – but if you needed a reminder of why she is so adored by the LGBTQ+ community, we have a quintet of queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race telling her story in what promises to be a fabulous new musical event this summer. Starring drag royalty Courtney Act, Priyanka, Kitty Scott-Claus, Divina De Campo and Rosé (yes, all five are playing Diana) – alongside Keala Settle as Queen Elizabeth II – and set to a high-camp soundtrack of all your faves (think Britney, Kylie, Chappell), the show sounds like it’s shaping up to be quite a wild night.
The Diana Mixtape will open at London’s HERE at Outernet venue later this month, which will be followed by a short run at The Lowry in Salford. Ahead of opening night we caught up with two of our Drag Race UK faves Kitty Scott-Claus and Divina De Campo to find out more about what’s in store.
So – The Diana Mixtape. It’s a great name, it sounds like fun, but it doesn’t really give a lot away… how would you describe the show?
“I would say – think SIX the musical, but the story of Princess Diana,” says Kitty. “Move over the six wives of Henry VIII, we’ve got five Princess Dianas in the building! It’s set to the music of today, and I think that shows how relevant her story and her message is, that we can use songs from 2025 and it makes sense with what Diana was going through. It has a fun soundtrack – the songs in here are bop after bop after bop! Every song is a 10 out of 10.”
“It’s a love letter really, to Diana,” adds Divina. “It chronicles her life and experiences in the most British of ways, with drag, it’s tongue-in-cheek, there’s nods to what’s happened… Camilla’s in there, of course! The relationship with Diana and Charles, the breakdown of that relationship, all carried through pop songs. It’s a jukebox musical – it’s not a drag show per se, it’s a musical with a very clear structure… but it’s all gonna be a lot of fun!”
We have five drag icons in the show – you’re all playing Diana, right? How does that work?
“We’re all playing Diana at different times in her life, so I’m the youngest one, the ingenue, and Divina is the last Diana because she’s the ingen…old!” Kitty laughs. “It goes in chronological order and we all tell a different side of her, we’re all playing Diana but we all have a different energy, so one’s going to be more sassy, one more boss bitch energy, it’s going to be so fun! We’ve got solo numbers, there’s group numbers, we’re being choreographed by Taz Hoesli who is incredible and so so good!”
“It’s a kind of internal monologue,” Divina explains. “You know when you’ve had an argument with somebody and you’re like – ‘I should have said this, and then they would have said that and I would have said this’? It’s that kind of thing, like, Diana’s almost having an internal monologue of that and we’re – the five of us – we are the physical embodiment of those thoughts and those stories.”
And you have Keala Settle in the show too, playing Queen Elizabeth II – that’s quite amazing!
“Oh my god, yes! The bearded woman from The Greatest Showman,” Kitty smiles, “and she’s so lovely, and so up for a great time. I think it’s going to be the most fun! And we have Lucinda Lawrence as Camilla, we have Noel Sullivan from Hear’Say as King – well, Prince Charles. It’s iconic! We’ve got dancers, we’ve got everything you could want.”
How is the show coming along? Have you started rehearsing together yet?
“We did a couple of days together doing prep stuff,” Divina says. “The days we had together were just joyful, you know… drag queens are very particular creatures and sometimes they’re wonderful and other times you’re like ‘oh, this is going to be an interesting experience’! But all five of us, it was just such a lovely environment, so I think we’re going to have a lot of fun on stage with each other as well as backstage.”
“The press days were so much fun,” Kitty continues, “it was the first time the five Dianas were together and it was so funny, we were having the best time, the vibes were great, we were all getting on so well. We start rehearsals on Monday, I can’t wait to get in the room and get our little Diana wigs on and have some fun!”
Finally – why should GAY TIMES readers come along to The Diana Mixtape?
“Because I’m in it, obviously!” Divina laughs. “And if that doesn’t float your boat, it’s Diana – a gay icon. And then you’ve got four other incredible drag queens. And Keala Settle! Keala Settle is in a show with us, that’s insane… someone who had one of the biggest tracks of the last decade, that’s major.”
“I think because Diana is a gay icon, what she did for the queer community in her short life was incredible, and still to this day is quite groundbreaking,” says Kitty. “Looking at how she was unafraid to go and meet people, and touch people, and love people who needed to be loved, especially in the AIDS crisis – she wasn’t afraid to go out there and show her support and show her love. Also – one little thing about Diana that I just love! – she went for a night out at the RVT [Royal Vauxhall Tavern] with Freddie Mercury. Diana went in boy drag – as a drag king – to the RVT for a camp night out! That to me says we have Di’s seal of approval. So you should go get your tickets – it’s what Diana would want!”
The Diana Mixtape plays at HERE at Outernet, London, 28 July-10 August and then The Lowry, Salford, 19-21 August. More information can be found here.
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